Walk to the Monastery of l'Annonciade - the Chapel

Our first view of the Monastery with the entrance to the chapel facing us.

We've climbed 225 metres to the top of this hill known as Le Berceau. It's dominated by the monastery which was founded in the XIV century but in the XI century it was the site of a small fortified city called Puypin (Podium Pinum, the hill of the pines).

There are several stories of how the name Menton came about. One is that the inheritor of Puypin was Seigneur Othon V who build a castle on the neighbouring hill, but lower hill and called it Mont Othon, which gives the contraction Menton.

This place is peaceful, the view stunning and we can only imagine how it was in the eleventh century, looking down and seeing Menton slowly grow around it.

Subsequently the old castle of Puypin was abandoned and tomorrow we'll learn more about the monastery that, three centuries later, took its place.

Walk to the Monastery of l'Annonciade - the Esplanade

We've walked up the steps that are by the iron cross you see in the background and are on the Esplanade of the Monastery. Tomorrow we'll turn and face the other way and see the Monastery itself.

Walk to the Monastery of l'Annonciade - the Wine Press

An old wine press outside the gate of the vineyard.

"I can no more think of my own life without thinking of wine and wines and where they grew for me and why I drank them when I did and why I picked the grapes and where I opened the oldest procurable bottles, and all that, than I can remember living before I breathed."

~M. F. K. Fisher

Walk to the Monastery of l'Annonciade - the Vineyard

As we saw yesterday, there is a small vineyard below the monastery.

The Confrérie de l'Etiquette de Menton has its own blog. Click to take a look at this year's vendange.

Walk to the Monastery of l'Annonciade - Almost There

Copyright 2009 Menton Daily Photo. All rights reserved

The smaller photo is a slightly different view of the final part of the walk. You saw it the other day - HERE.

We turn the bend at the top - et voila! - we see the Monastery and below it the vines.

Tomorrow, we'll look at the vineyard.

Walk to the Monastery of l'Annonciade - the Abandoned Shrine

Copyright 2009 Menton Daily Photo. All rights reserved

Most of the shrines were restored during the 20th century... but obviously some weren't.

Walk to the Monastery of l'Annonciade - the Road Sweeper

Copyright 2009 Menton Daily Photo. All rights reserved

The older ladies who live on this Chemin du Rosaire are pretty tough. Remember the old lady who fed the cats a couple of days ago?

Now meet the lady who sweeps the road. She's sweeping the steps below the shrine you see on the right, which is doubtless near the entrance to her house.

Walk to the Monastery of l'Annonciade - the Sea and the Sky

Copyright 2009 Menton Daily Photo. All rights reserved.

You can see the walk was worth it. The sea is in sight and on the left we pass another shrine. Not far now...

“There is one spectacle grander than the sea, that is the sky; there is one spectacle grander than the sky, that is the interior of the soul”

~ Victor Hugo

Walk to the Monastery of l'Annonciade - the Cats' Shrine

Copyright 2009 Menton Daily Photo. All rights reserved.

At first glance it appears this old lady, this exceedingly old lady, is praying at the shrine or tending flowers, albeit false ones. Not so.

There is a large hole in the corner of the wire netting and she is filling bowls with food and water for the wild cats in this area.

On the wall above her head, two of them are waiting...

Walk to the Monastery of l'Annonciade - the Shrines

Copyright 2009 Menton Daily Photo. All rights reserved.

Today we'll take a look inside three of the shrines. With iron bars and wire netting protecting the frescoes, they are not easy to photograph.

There are 15 shrines, all numbered. I assumed they represent the Stations of the Cross but was corrected by the nun I met in the monastery who told me they are the Stations of the Rosary.

The shrines were restored in the last century - the work done by well known artists of the region.

Walk to the Monastery of l'Annonciade - Onwards & Upwards

Copyright 2009 Menton Daily Photo. All rights reserved.

We keep on walking. As you see, it's a fair old hike ever upwards but we stop and look at each of the shrines (there's one on the right).

'Those who are lifting the world upward and onward are those who encourage more than criticize.'

~ Elizabeth Harrison

Theme day - 'Doorways' - Rubble in Rue Longue

Copyright 2009 Menton Daily Photo. All rights reserved.

It's Theme Day again with the theme being 'doorways.' We are in Rue Longue in Menton. This building is being renovated and so the rubble is put into bags to await collection. No room in this narrow medieval street for a skip.

To see how at least 100 City Daily Photo bloggers from around the world have interpreted today's Theme, do click on the link to be delighted and intrigued. Click here to view thumbnails for all participants.

Walk to the Monastery of l'Annonciade - the Frieze

Copyright 2009 Menton Daily Photo. All rights reserved

We turn the corner from yesterday's shrine and on the right find a house with this beautiful frieze. (In the smaller photo, we are looking back at the house, so you can see we are only a little way above sea-level - long way to go yet).

The friezes of Menton, Monaco and the hill villages are celebrated, some so beautiful you want to jump up and down with delight.

Don't you love that a real dove, or perhaps a pigeon, has left its calling card on the top of the shutter...

This is for Virginia of Birmingham, Alabama DP who has posted pigeons (take a look) on Paris Through My Lens today. Even tho it's not Paris, here's a little bit of France for you, Virginia.

Walk to the Monastery of l'Annonciade - Stations of the Rosary

Copyright 2009 Menton Daily Photo. All rights reserved.

We've started the walk. Bottles of water in our rucksacks.

Here we see one of the 15 shrines built in the 17th century and restored in the 20th. They represent the 15 Mysteries of the Rosary.

In 1660, Isabelle of Monaco, sister of Prince Louis 1, was cured of leprosy after a pilgrimage to Our Lady of Peypin and so she built these fifteen station of the Rosary along this road leading to the chapel.

Walk to the Monastery of l'Annonciade

The Monastery of l'Annonciade sits way above Menton - and tomorrow we start the walk, which is really a sort of pilgrimage as we climb the Chemin du Rosaire and pass what I thought were the Stations of the Cross but are in fact the Stations of the Rosary. All will be revealed...

This photograph was taken from sea level at a distance of 1.4 kilometres, as the seagull flies, so that explains the grainy look to the photo. And yes, those are vines below the monastery - and vines mean wine!

Chess in the Jardin Biovès

A chess board and pieces, with the Jardins Biovès and hills as a backdrop. The 8th Open International Chess Tournament is taking place at the Palais de l'Europe (the building on the right with the flags) at the moment.

In the smaller photo, you see the poster, with one of Menton's beautiful steeples depicted as a chess piece, set against the facade of the Old Town.

Lunch for Three

Dogs are allowed in most restaurants in France - I love that. This couple are eating a plate of Fruits de Mer on the terrace of the Restaurant le Lido in the Place aux Herbes in Menton. Their Golden Retriever sits waiting - hoping for a morsel...I think he's got his eye on that lobster.

Fête de la Branda - Hot and Steamy

Copyright 2009 Menton Daily Photo. All rights reserved.

This is the third year I've photographed the Fête de la Branda for Menton Daily Photo and so I won't do more than show this photograph of the process this time. (you can always look back to the beginning of October in previous years for more information.) Suffice to say the 'Branda' is the marc or eau de vie that is distilled from the twigs and grape skins after wine is made. It's very strong!

In the photo the alambic (still) is being emptied (see the steaming wheelbarrow) and the man on top is cleaning out the still, which is hot and hard work. Soon it will be filled with fresh grape skins and twigs and water of course and later we'll hear drip, drip, drip, as the 'fire water' drips into a plastic bucket.

Fête de la Branda - Touch

Copyright 2009 Menton Daily Photo. All rights reserved

"One touch of nature makes the whole world kin."

~ William Shakespeare

Fête de la Branda -Dogs à la Mode

Copyright 2009 Menton Daily Photo. All rights reserved.

The Fête de la Branda in Gorbio draws an enormous number of visitors, many of whom bring their dogs with them.

Chihuahuas and pretty ladies who wear lots of jewelry seem to go together. Some people love them, some don't - they do seem to have become rather à la mode with so many actresses walking around with them in their handbags...

These two live in Ventimiglia, just across the Italian border. The long-haired one is called Shogun and the smooth-haired white one is called Tokyo and as you can see in the last photo, little Tokyo isn't just a lap dog - he has no fear of a dog bigger than himself.

In the cage behind them, are chickens and guinea pigs for sale.